Dermoscopy Education in Undergraduate Medical Education: Scoping Review of Pedagogical Approaches and Gaps

A dermatoscope, a hand-held magnifying polarized illuminating device, is a powerful tool in the clinician's tool kit for skin cancer examination (SCE), allowing for better screening and diagnostic accuracy. Yet, few physicians are trained to leverage its potential. This scoping review explores current approaches to dermoscopy education among undergraduate medical trainees. A systematic scoping review was conducted by searching 5 databases: Medline, Embase + Classic, Scopus, Web of Science, and Education Resources Information Center.

A total of 12 primary articles met the inclusion criteria published between 2012 and 2024 with a total of 1286 participating medical students, most of whom were clerks (n_studies = 6, 50.0%, n_participants = 498/1286 = 38.7%). Most studies were pre- and posttest control trials (n_S = 5, 41.7%, n_P = 980/1286 = 76.2%) assessing SCE performance after dermoscopy teaching. Short-term retention and performance were evaluated in 9 studies (n_S = 9, 75.0%, n_P = 884/1286, 68.7%), in which 5 studies reported immediate statistically significant improvement in posttest scores following their respective educational intervention (P < .05) (n_S = 5, 41.7%, n_P = 323/1286 = 25.1%). Long-term retention was assessed in 3 studies with heterogenous findings (n_S = 3, 25.0%, n_P = 432/1286 = 33.6%). Many studies lack explicit reference to a structured framework for teaching dermoscopy (n_S = 7, 58.3%, n_P = 849/1286 = 66.0%).

The literature has shown successful curricular implementation and effectiveness of dermoscopy teaching at this level. Future research may focus on strategies for curricular integration, long-term retention, and connections to later stages of training and patient care.